You may not be familiar with Janne Ollikainen, but he plays drums in as many as 3 different bands: progressive power/thrash metal posse Invisible Enemy (who released their debut album, Diversity, in August), heavy rock group Random Fly, and the female-fronted act aCore. Without further ado, let’s give the man the opportunity to talk about his picks for Playlist of My Life:

1. The first song you remember hearing as a child
Really hard to remember any particular song. It must have been some lullaby song that my mother’s been singing… or then something from Agents or Rauli Badding Somerjoki which my father used to listen a lot.

2. The first song you can recall ever really and truly loving
Propably the original Pokémon theme song! Oh, the nostalgia…

3. A song that you loved as a teenager/reminds you of high school
Children of Bodom – “Bodom Beach Terror”. I started playing drums in high school and I remember listening to this song and wondering if I could ever learn to play it.

4. The song or band that got you into metal music (or the current genre you play in)
Rammstein – “Feuer Frei”. I was a 12-year old kid when my friend borrowed me their album Mutter and told about that song, so I immediately checked it out first. That totally hit me! And it still does…

5. The most recent song to get stuck in your head
Beast in Black – “Blind and Frozen”.

6. Your guilty pleasure song/band
Not really sure, what’s count as a ”guilty pleasure song,” because I listen to so many different kinds of music.

7. The first album you bought with your own money/the first album you were really excited to own
Nightwish – Once was the first album that I got really excited about. I remember standing in a record store and trying to choose between NW’s Once and and Guns N’ Roses’ Greatest Hits.

8. A song that makes you want to curl up on the couch with a hot beverage
Sugizo – “Synchronicity”.

9. A song to blast at full volume while you’re on the road
While driving I listen to tons of music from side to side. When the volume starts to turn up it’s most likely because of something straightforward, melodic, maybe with some 80’s vibes in it. Just to mention one: Brother Firetribe – “Heart Full of Fire”.

10. The song you’d most like to be played at your funeral
Kamelot – “House on a Hill”, X Japan – “Art of Life”, Nightwish – “Dead Boy’s Poem”.